V is for...
by narie the waitress
Summary: Slightly confusing at times, I've been told, this story has Minako talking about Sailor V and just what that V stands for; as well as a look at the main 9 characters in the first season, Luna not being a part of them.


Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and some other people, whose name and place in the greater scheme of things I am incapable of recalling. No profit being made, no point in suing. I'm very, very poor.

Author's note at the end.

This is not your average story. If you're looking for action, go read something else, seriously.

V is for...

By narie_the_waitress

I walked in quickly, trying to protect myself from the rain that was pouring down from above. My boss sent a disapproving glance my way, because, as he and I both know, I was very, very late. Never a good thing, but even less if this is your first week working as a waitress. So meekly, without raising my eyes, I made my way to the staff room, and changed from my damp, crimson sweater into my waitress apron. And then made my way, still submissive, back to the main hall. There weren't that many people that night, but there were three tables that caught my attention. Maybe because they were the only occupied ones. In the first one, a cute couple, her with long blond hair and him with short dark hair and a face that seemed straight out of the latest Disney movie were staring each other in the eye while she violently gesticulated about something. She didn't seem very happy, and he seemed bored out of his mind. Incredibly so. Actually, his expression made me wonder as to what he was doing here with her.

So, to satisfy my curiosity, I walked over to them, and stood there for a few seconds, listening to their conversation until he noticed me and my insolent grin. He matched it with one of almost the same quality. Almost. When it comes to those things, I'm unsurpassable. Or so I thought...

Anyway, back to where I was. The 'boy,' for lack of a better term, ordered two drinks for them, and I smiled to myself as I realized that they were the cheapest things on the menu. Guy was most likely one of those international exchange students with no money. Just like me. Although his Japanese was perfect. Not just like me, then. Pity... if the blonde ever decided to let go of him, I wouldn't mind his company.

So I went back to get their drinks and placed them down in the table with a smile. I lingered around for a while, always within earshot of their conversation. Which was a pretty unusual one. I guess they weren't a steady a couple as I thought. I doubt anyone, no matter how in love they were, would appreciate being called dumpling head. By the look in her face, she sure didn't.

In another table there was a girl, sitting alone, apparently waiting for someone. She ordered a tuna sandwich as I approached, not once taking her eyes off from the thick textbook she was reading, nor pausing her furious scribbling in the sheets of paper next to her. She was one workaholic in the making, that was for sure. And she had the most horrible fashion sense. Or the most conservative. Call it what you will. But the long, Mrs. Rottenmeyer skirt she was wearing didn't go with her blue hair, which had to be dyed. Blue is not a natural hair color, as my father reminds me everytime I threaten to dye it. 

As I brought her the sandwich, the door opened and a girl with long hair entered. The blue haired one raised her head quickly, glanced at dumpling head and company, then at the door, and waved the girl over with one free hand, as she flipped a page and continued reading. She smiled at me and nodded when I brought her the sandwich. I had the feeling she was going to leave me a very decent tip.

I stuck around, waiting for her friend to approach her and settle down, and then took her order. She asked for some tea, and so I promptly went to the kitchen and told the woman in there about it. Two minutes later I reappeared. The blue-haired one was still immersed in the book, and the other one seemed very annoyed at that. She cleared her throat and launched into an endless tirade of Japanese, spoken so fast that I couldn't understand a word she was saying. But, as I have already said, she seemed very, very annoyed. I backed off before she fixed her glance in me and found something to complain about.

And so I come to the third table. In it was seating a young man, not much more older than me, who looked completely out of place here. Perhaps his blond hair made sure of that, although that color was fairly normal around here, at least that night. He was cute, and seemed to be from some part of Europe. He wasn't drinking anything, and so, following house rules, I approached him to let him know that either he drank something or he was going to have to leave soon. Somehow, the words came out in English, and I reddened as I realized that. He raised his eyes to look at me and gave me a cold, cruel stare. I was about to repeat what I just said in Japanese, making sure that the insolence had left my voice, when he answered me in English tainted with only a tiny bit of foreign, unidentifiable accent. He said something about coming back in five minutes and he would have made his mind up. I left him alone and quite happily returned to my other tables, waiting for the minutes to pass. When his time was up, I approached him once more. He was about to order something when the door opened and a pretty coppery blond, thin girl, of about 20 years, so I guess she wasn't a girl, came through, followed by a white-haired man who seemed very much in love with her. My client glanced at them, seemed to growl at them, tossed some notes in the table and showed himself out, hatred flaming in his eyes. However, the new couple was between him and the door, and so when he passed them, I saw both him and the girl stiffen their backs and send each others venomous looks. The white-haired man held his girlfriend back, and I am sure that if he hadn't done it, she would have pounced him like a cat would. 

Like a cat. Neko, isn't it?

That was exactly what they looked like. Now that I think back upon that, I'm sure that had they been felines, their backs would have arched, they would have bared their teeth and fought till one of them laid bleeding to his (or her) death in the ground. Perhaps they used to be attached to each other, who knew. It surely looked as if they hated the sight of one another, and what better way to achieve that than to break up? But they would have made a cute couple, perhaps... they were both gorgeous. 

Oh yes, I've said it, they were both beautiful. A few months ago I would have thought that that simple thought meant I felt attracted to the girl and was a lesbian in the making. Now I don't. She had a pretty body, an incredibly beautiful boyfriend whom she seemed to love very much, judging from the looks they were giving each other. Lucky them... And I, with my narrow mind and my possessiveness was willing to admit that.. My shrink would have been very proud of me, had I ever told her that.

So, off I went, to serve their table. Sometimes being the only waitress has its advantages. And it is quite an interesting job, getting to see tiny little snippets of strangers' lives. Then again, there are always some shocks involved. The couple were staring at each other, lost in their own little world. And like the other couple I was serving that day, they didn't take any notice of me until I had been staring at them for about five minutes. Had I believed in telepathy, I would have thought (no pun...) that they were sharing their thoughts. I used the time to study them. The girl had a-bit-lighter-than-Scully's colored hair, as I have already mentioned. She wore it pulled back into a ponytail, so her green eyes were visible. They were scary eyes, void of any emotion but the love she felt for her lover (ain't I being redundant?...) although deep below that I could see the hatred she felt for all other living things. It was an abnormal mixture, and scared me badly. I still shiver when I think about her. Her companion was somehow similar. He had long white hair, which seemed natural, yet out of place in someone that young. Not to say it looked bad... His eyes were of a deep, also unnatural grey, and beneath the love was not hatred, but incredible contempt, a "holier than thou" attitude. And he radiated power. You had to be pretty dumb not to feel it coming off him. Their hands laid intertwined on top of the table. And then they broke out of their trance and the girl saw me looking at her lover, I guess, because as I left to go get their drinks, I could feel her eyes drilling two holes into my skull. Not a pleasant feeling. I pitied her ex boyfriend... if he was her ex.

Before I took their drinks to them, yet another person came in. It must have been the rain, or something like that, because in the other two days I had worked here, there had never been this many people around here. This girl had brown hair and a melancholic air around her. Her clothes were soaked and dripping as she entered and sat down in a corner table, as far away from everyone as possible, and took out a little wrinkled up something, which I took to be a picture. She looked at it and seemed about to burst into tears. I was about to go ask her what she wanted to drink, but turned around and instead got a thick pile of napkins from the counter and placed them in my tray. Then I walked to her table, and placed them next to her, without a word. She quickly flipped the picture over, so I couldn't see it and then she sent a thankful glance my way. I nodded and left her alone. As I walked to the table where the blue-haired workaholic and her 'friend' were talking, I heard her mutter something, between sobs, as if she were talking to whoever it was had been captured in the picture. She talked about herself, presumably, reassuring whoever that she was fine, and that she missed him (or was it a her? or 

a them? I really should learn Japanese...) very much. She wished for things to be different. Then she broke down into tears. Tactfully, both me and my boss ignored her. 

The two other girls were still arguing over something. 

Correction. The one with the dark, long hair was arguing with the air over something. The other one was studying. I checked on them and asked if they needed anything. The one doing all the talking said that no, domo arigato.

Since I didn't feel like going back to check on the ESP couple, I walked back to my abandoned first couple. They were still arguing, and the girl's voice was close to reaching that cartoonish pitch range in which glass shatters. Apparently, he hadn't stopped calling her dumpling head. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but her hairstyle justified it. I checked their drinks, and offered to bring a refill. The girl nodded vigorously, the boy sighed, and the fact that he was stuck with her, and wished he could be somewhere else became so obvious it was almost unbelievable to think she hadn't noticed it. Although she didn't look very sharp, and had a dreamy air around her... maybe he didn't like her, but she sure had a crush on him. See... studying psychology has its advantages, regardless of what you say, Mom.

As I was leaving to get their drinks she called me back and declared that she had changed her mind. She wanted an ice cream, so if I could please bring her one she would be thankful. Her would-be boyfriend gave her a weird look, and so did I, because it gets cold here during the winter. And December happens to be the middle of the winter, in case she hadn't noticed. 

She had, and said she didn't care when he asked her if she was sure. I left, pushing back down the weird images that came into my mind, even though I hadn't asked for them. Not that I usually do. 

So I brought her the ice-cream, sent an apologetic look his way and went to take care of the 'boy,-are-you-two-freaky-or-what?' couple, a member of which had sent yet another nasty glance my way (guess which one). After making sure I had received it full fledged, they returned to their conversation. I scurried to the counter, placed the two glasses in my tray and 'got it going.' Once again they were oblivious of my arrival, which resulted on me hearing the girl as she jokingly questioned her companion if he was thinking of betraying her with a 'human girl!' She emphasized the last word pretty heavily, and he reassured her quickly that no, of course not, he would never think of that. He squeezed her hand and she smiled at him, a smile that had it been directed to anyone else would, no doubt, have seemed predatory and territorial.

Sometime around then the sudden realization that the fine boned, androgynous figure was male hit me full on. I felt myself blushing, cursing my stupidity and the fact that I had to approach them now, in the middle of my shame/embarrassment attack. I searched around what remained of my dignity and found enough courage to allow me to finish my journey across the cafe and back. The drinks were deposited on their table as silently and unobtrusively as possible, and then I left them to go sit down for five minutes and 'shoot the old bull' (can't get rid of Holden, can I?) around with the boy in charge of the register. Three days working there and I still didn't know his name... And he was cute, too.

However, as I was about to ask him to say his name for me for the eleventh time, since I couldn't pronounce it, the door bursted open and in came yet another girl with long hair. She was also a blond and looked closely related to the other one, dumpling head, although she stared at her and showed no sing of recognition. She took yet another lonely table, waved me over and ordered a drink. She carried herself with self confidence, sure of what she was doing and where she was going. She must have been a model, or an actress or someone else of the kind that goes around walking around with a straight back and impeccable manners.

As I later found out, I was pretty wrong, concerning the manners part. 

She opened the little backpack she was carrying with her and took out a magazine. Of the kind with the glossy cover, the big fonts and the pictures of the latest Hollywood star stamped all over it. I remember that because the cover was in English. As she glanced through it, waiting for her drink to arrive, I'm pretty sure she came very close to drooling on the table. I'm not sure about what was on the magazine, and I'm not sure if I want to find out. She gulped her whole drink down in two sips and asked for a refill. She finished that one quickly too, but waited for a while before ordering another one. I guess her budget was as short as everyone else's. Pity... that meant no generous tip from her either... My only hopes were the yaoi couple and the studious one, along with her friend. Although I was pretty sure the yaoi couple wasn't going to be very nice, taking into account the way we'd acted around each other. 

I resumed my attempts of making sure the pretty boy behind the cashier realized that I was more than a simple gaijin, after checking on all the tables and getting another tuna sandwich. We hadn't gotten very far when the door opened yet one more time (it was beginning to get annoying now... there was simply no way of having a decent conversation around this place)

This time it was an auburn headed man, who also seemed lost in his own little world. I had the strong feeling that I was the only one who was still in this world and not off to Fantasyland. The newest arrival took a seat next to the windows, which opened into the street and stared off into the sunset. The rain had stopped some time ago, and the sun was setting amidst a thick mantle of clouds, sending gold, pink, purple and orange light all over the landscape. Sometimes smog can have the most strange light refracting properties.

All of a sudden, as if on accord, the lonely girl with the tear-red eyes, the studious one and her friend, and the solitary blonde decided that it was time to go home. So, they all ordered their respective bills, which the cute boy behind the counter promptly produced, paid and left. 

That particular moment was chosen by the companion to dumpling head to take a look around at the people left in the cafe. I watched to see what would happen when his eyes met the yaoi couple one's and was incredibly shocked when the blond one turned his eyes down, as if it were a gesture of respect, and the hatred was replaced by some kind of vague, empty look, as if he were having an epiphany. His companion came pretty close to bowing to the dark haired one, or so it looked. All that I know is that suddenly they were no longer the proud, arrogant jerks they seemed, but two people who have met their superior. 

But of course, as soon as their eye contact was broken, everything returned to normal. Pity... Perhaps if they had been in a more user-friendly setting they would have left a larger tip than the one they did when all of a sudden they got up, the white-haired man's arm around the waist of his frailer companion, tossed some coins in the table and left in a hurry. I caught the blond sending another one of those seemingly trade marked poisonous looks he enjoyed in the direction the absent minded auburn gentleman. 

Who, by the way, hadn't ordered anything yet, and so I once more sighed and got up to do my job. The sun had set and it was now dark, and the first stars were appearing in the sky. Not that you can see many stars in a sky as light polluted as Tokyo's, but the auburn man hadn't realized that, or was ignoring that fact. Maybe he was looking at the planes flying out of Narita. No matter what, house rules are house rules, and so I crept around until I was behind him, staring fixedly at the spot between his shoulder blades and still he didn't notice me. Instead he continued his muttering, words in what I presume was ancient Greek or Latin. I caught something about Proxima Centauri, so I guess he was just talking to himself about the stars. I cleared my throat, loudly, to avoid myself any more embarrassing moments. I'd had my share for today.

The noise broke his reverie and he turned around to face me. He ordered a cup of coffee, two cream, no sugar, I think only because I told him he was going to have to drink something or 'butt out.'

I went to get it, and as the only remaining couple in the place asked for their bill, I realized that the cute-boy-behind-the-counter was nowhere to be seen. So I fumbled around with the machine, managing to bring it pretty close to a complete meltdown more than once until it spat out, on a wrinkled piece of paper (of course, it had to be wrinkled...) the figures I was looking for. 

I got the coffee, and the check and deliver them to their appropriate owners. The dark-haired man (fairy tale boy), who seemed as bored as he had when I started my shift fumbled around for his wallet and carefully counted some money, enough to cover the check and allow myself to buy a pack of bubblegum, while the auburn-haired one just stared at his coffee with the same abandon he had shown the stars. 

I looked at my watch and gasped at the time. It was very late, I'm not sure what specific time, but late enough to make me cringe back in fear as I thought of all the homework I had to do. I went back into the staff room, told the boss I was leaving changed back into my still damp sweater and picked up my bookbag.

I walked back to the college dorms, or at least was trying to until I came across you. I highly doubt you'd believe me if I tell you I've been waiting for you to come, but nevertheless, it is the truth, so really, you can't blame me. I don't know why. All I know is that I've been having strange dreams for some time now. There are some, uh, I guess characters is the best way to describe them, that I have never seen before, and there are some other popular ones. Like the 

ever famous you, or Sailor Moon. But there is also some other Senshi I sure haven't heard about, and I should know what I'm talking about, since the Senshi are the main part of my "psychology of the masses" course project. So, tell me, you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me, would you? Sure, I realize it, you've just saved my life (how on Earth I ended up with a gun pointed to my head is a mystery, though) and you have all the right to ask me to please let you go back to your lair of riches, if I'm supposed to believe everything I read about you in the newspapers.

But please, onegai, Sailor V, just one little question. After all, isn't it your job to protect the citizens of Tokyo? How about their future? I mean, if you answer just this one question my grade will be a lot higher, I will graduate with a better average score and I will get a better job. I call that protecting my future. Don't you?

What? What do you mean, no!? Please, just this once. I won't tell the media, I'll just put it down as part of my project. I won't even say you answered me, I'll make it look like I'm quoting something you said to someone else. Besides, if you answer me, I'll stop telling you my life story. It can be so much more dull than what you've already heard, you do realize that, don't you?

Thank you so much!!!!! So, tell me then, why do you do it? Why do you go around with your super powers saving people? All heroes have a motivation behind them. What do you get out of it, once your job is done?

What do you mean, you get nothing out of it? Not even the thrill of saving people? The joy that comes when you see your name all over the newspapers, and all those little girls trying to be just like you?

Oh, you get nothing physical. I understand. Psychological rewards are completely different, according to my teachers. So you're not searching for the Mystical this or the Shiny that or anything like that. You're doing it just because?

Girl, you're one weird heroine. You mean there is no deadly chunk of kryptonite you need to seal away before the world gets blown up, you just go around fighting everyday criminals? And you're not a reporter, or the product of some horrendous lab experiment gone wrong?

Boy... 

What do you mean, how do I know you're not a journalist? Well, you don't sound like one, and to tell you the truth, you don't look like one. Nor act like one. Anyone who looks like you and is a journalist would be (excuse me) hell bent on concealing their appearance, so no one would recognize them. And as to why you're not the result of some lab experiment, well, you don't seem to have the x-ray vision, or the furry eight legs, or anything like that. 

Anyway, there really is no secret plot or goal behind your "career"? So in your free time you're just an ordinary girl who goes to school, does her homework, etc? And why the move from London? I mean, they sure need you more over there than they do here.

What do you mean, your cat told you to do that? You're lying to me, aren't you? Who's ever heard of talking cats? Not me, that's for sure. I guess I'll leave that little bit out when I write my final project. But really, you should have tried something more believable. Now I think you're completely insane. Cats don't talk. But then again, superheroes with magic powers don't either. 

Anyway, let's go back to my original question. You're doing this because you want to, yes? You enjoy going around saving innocent people and protecting the world from criminals. Nothing wrong with that. But at the end no shiny princess will come down from the heavens and say "Well, thank you very much, Sailor V, you've been wonderful. Go find yourself a nice boyfriend, settle down and have a great life, girl."

What happens if she ever shows up? What happens to Sailor V? Does she fade out and disappear? What about Sailor Moon, is she related to you?

Yes, I know I said I would ask only one question, but you're actually highly interesting to talk to. Please, just those, and I will shut up, this time for real. I'll get up and leave, go home and work on my project to honor this conversation.

Whoa! So Sailor Moon is kinda, but not really related to you, yet V-chan is going to disappear soon? Why can't you two just work together? Is it, like some ancient grudge or something? And hey... why didn't you answer my question about the princess? Does that mean there really is one? Wait, I never asked that. Don't even bother answering. If the answer is yes, I think me and my psychologist would end up having a long chat, and that is not something I want to do. 

OK, so now that I have my answers, I will leave and let you carry on fighting crime. How do I put this, domo arigato, V-chan for talking to me. Domo arigatou gozaimatsu. It has been a pleasure meeting you.

Hold on!! The V stands for victory, doesn't it?

What do you mean, V is for Venus?? There is no Sailor Venus! Besides, every one knows V is for Victory. Sailor V-chan, Sailor Victory. Not Sailor Venus! Who's ever heard of Sailor Venus!? No one! NO ONE! There's only Moon, Mercury and Mars, and that cute enemy of theirs, Jade something or other, the blond with the short hair. 

Oh great... another riddle to solve. With any luck, I'll catch her some other day and ask her what she meant. I don't know why, I've been having this incredible sense of deja vu since I started talking to her. As if I had seen her before, or knew her, or something like that. Go figure...

Well, from there on my life once again becomes boring and unworthy of being written down. As usual. I wonder why I even wrote about my afternoon at work today. There sure is no link between me meeting V-chan and all the weird people in the coffee shop today. No way. It was just a coincidence. That's it. Just a weird coincidence.

Nothing else. 

***************************************************************

This is my first real fanfic. Hopefully you enjoyed it, hopefully (but much less likely) it will inspire you and cause you to send me some feedback on it. More likely, you will not. However, if you must tell me how bad the story is, please, do it in a way that will not send me into a spiraling depression, since that is not something nice to do to a first time author. 

Anyway... as to the narrator, I am not sure where she came from, so if you were wondering, well, I can't help you. She is not the reason behind my nickname, for which there is a longer explanation... She was simply born out of boredom while I waited for my mother to pick me up from school.

narie

(bakanarie@hotmail.com,

www.envy.nu/bakanarie/

Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 12, 2000.


End file.
